Greetings–

Guaranteed: Nothing on this list is an April Fool’s joke.
 

Save the Tapeworms!

Endangered animals get a lot of medical attention in captivity–but are they getting too much attention for their own good? For my column this week in the New York Times, I write about some scientists who think that parasites are important to the long-term survival of species.

 

DNA in 3D

In some ways, DNA is a ridiculous molecule to use for heredity. The DNA in a single cell measures six feet in length, and has to be carefully folded in order to function. For my latest Science Happens video on Stat, I visit a scientist who studies DNA’s three-dimensional structure. It’s accompanied by gorgeous computer visualizations of our inner tangle. (GIF courtesy of Leonid Mirny, MIT)
 

Science & Storytelling

I’ve added a new entry to the talks below. On April 23, I’ll be at the Science & Storytelling Conference at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. It’s shaping up as an exciting event, including a keynote from the great nature writer David Quammen.

 

The Talks

April 21: New York. Fordham University. Details here.

NEW!–> April 23: Yale. Science & Storytelling Conference. Details

June 17: Austin, Texas. Public Lecture for the Stephen Jay Gould Award. Details here

June 23-25: Durham North Carolina: International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, Plenary Lecture. Here’s the meeting site.

June 29: Boston: Festival of Genomics, Plenary Lecture, “Tales from the genome beat: how journalists explore (& sometimes get lost in) our DNA.” Details here.

July 31: Keynote lecture at the annual meeting of the Botanical Society of America in Savannah

January 28-29, 2017 Rancho Mirage Writers Festival
 

The End
 
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Best wishes, Carl

Originally published April 1, 2016. Copyright 2016 Carl Zimmer.